Prosecutor Princess – A Review

Posted on March 27, 2012

There should not be a shortage of water supply in my neighborhood after watching the entire sixteen episodes of Prosecutor Princess- I’ve shed enough tears to sustain the demand.

Not that I was reduced to sobbing, uncontrollable tears, mind you. It was more that as the storyline progressed, my heartstrings and tear ducks were simply and unequivocally… pulled.

Prosecutor Princess is a story about the transformation of Ma Hye Ri, who blossomed from an innocent, naïve and priority out-of-sorts girl into a savvy and competent prosecutor. The process of her transformation was nothing short of fancy; the cases she was responsible for were not exorbitant; and the events that occurred in order to create the transformation were not mind-blowing. Yet as I watched her grow up, I feel so very attached to the storyline. I soon realized that the development of her character (as well as the rest of the cast) was what grabbed me, hooked me, reeled me in and absolutely will not let go.

But the plot has a twist. It is not a slow and sedentary progression in the plot where you watch Hye Ri become more and more responsible due to her case load. It is the suspense, the mystery of a man- Seo In Woo- who enters her life and forever changes it. What he has done, decided to do and inevitably followed through, changed the dynamic of the storyline. And that my friends, captured my heart.

It is easy to fall in love with the characters in this drama, to understand what ticked them, what made them smile. I have to take my hats off to the writers for creating such full characters. Which immediately forces me to contemplate on how much more lakorn writers must do to improve, but that’s an article for another time. Each has their own strength, targeting their niche market, I suppose.

Let’s briefly talk about the characters.

The Prosecutors: Ma, Jin, Yoon, Chief and two male side kicks. I’ve enjoyed their bickering , gossiping, honesty when they are together. I especially love the Chief as he was hilarious, always discriminating and blaming other countries for any shortcomings. Only child: those Chinese, always having only child, that’s why they’re so spoiled. There’s something about Japanese too. Gah, he was too entertaining. What will he say about Thailand?

The brother-in-law dilemma. It’s really not something anyone wants to be in. But Prosecutor Jin is in love with her dead sister’s husband (Prosecutor Yoon). He was her ideal man. She has loved him even when her sister was alive. Unfortunately he has no clue. We watch her internally struggle with this and waiting until she thinks he is ready. That is, until he notices someone else..

Our princess. She really epitomizes one. But she hadn’t always been like that. Her character, starting so simple and clichéd became so full and wholesome. We understand her background, what makes her tick and what drives her. All in all, I like our girl. I feel for our girl. And so I cheered for her when things finally work out to her advantage. Because like she said, “What she lacks in creativity, she makes up for in imitation.”

But no one else in this drama has compelled me as much as Mr. Mysterious Rich Guy, Lawyer Seo In Woo, most specifically the actor who played him: Park Shi Hoo.

Which leads me to some details on why I love Prosecutor Princess:

For starters, Hye Ri’s and In Woo’s first encounter. Both booked the same hotel room, check. And end up sharing the room, check. He then walked in on her as she almost drowns while falling asleep in the bathtub and he sees her naked, check. We got ourselves conflict and attraction.

Do you remember my review about Pathapee Leh Rak and that the main reason why I found the lakorn attractive is because the pr’ek is smart? Well, Seo In Woo is brilliant, cunning and completely too attractive for his own good. Those kinds of qualities can get you into trouble. Being too arrogant.. thinking that he will not be affected by his own scheme. Tsk tsk. Boy how that backfired.

Which brings me to another reason why I love this particular male lead. He knows the secret to a girl’s heart, or like Hye Ri said to him, “he must have bought a book of ‘a 100 ways to win over a girl.” Either way, he should share that secret or book with the rest of the male leads in any drama. Seo In Woo’s character is just, dreamy: like a Superman who always appears when she needed him. Protects her, advises her and supports her. Even though he had ulterior motives, he had his reasons.

And boy can he kiss. The passionate smooch between In Woo and Hye Ri will be etched in my memory as one of the most sincere (real) and on screen toe curling kiss to date! He had disappeared from her, leaving her to cope with the realization of the final case. She had been frantically looking for him. Needing to talk to him. To share with him the secret that she had learned. To tell him the feelings that she had discovered for him. But he was nowhere to be found. One day, when she noticed that he finally came back, her heart pumped loudly in her chest and she can finally breathe. But she knew she had to tell him. In Woo on the other hand, could not resist coming back when he should have stayed away. He knew he had hurt her and he will continue to hurt her. How much more angst can she go through? Then those words, coming out of her mouth.. telling him that she loved him. He’s a bastard. He knows it but he can’t help pulling her into his arms, lowering his head and kissing her with everything that he got. It was a beautiful scene indeed.

From beginning to end, Prosecutor Princess took me on an enjoyable, stressful and liberated ride about two people’s intertwined life and how they will make you feel. Do I recommend this drama? Oh yes.

Advertisements

Spread the love

Related

25 Comments

You’re really making me want to rewatch this drama. It’s been so long and it’s so good. I did go back a while ago to rewatch the kiss scenes which are epic. I need to redo my animated GIFs now that I know how to do them properly.

I envy that you’re so techie! Indeed, the kiss was epic, dreamy, everything a ‘surprised’ fan like myself could want in a drama. When it comes to PP, I’m always Team Lawyer Seo, I didn’t even stray towards Prosecutor Yoon’s team in the slightest- even though I enjoyed watching his brooding ways. To me, Ma Hye Ri and Seo In Woo were meant to be together.. sigh.. definitely a must “re-watch” drama!

In Woo is definitely delectable. I’ve never been a fan of weak second leads. The man who can never make up his mind to confess. Who takes on the role of best friend even though being close to her without dating her is sheer agony. I know others feel pity for these characters, but I don’t. They really need to be open with their feelings instead. In Woo oozes confidence and charm, which makes my heart race. Add to that, that he’s played by my favorite Korean actor, Park Shi Hoo, and you have instant obsession.

I think you said you were watching on Netflix. I looked through the list of what’s available and City Hunter is the first I’d recommend. It’s got a bit more violence, it’s more along the lines of a revenge thriller, but it has a really cute romance. One that actually lead to the couple dating off screen. (They’ve already broken up though).

My Girlfriend is a Guhimo is super cute and funny.

I wouldn’t highly recommend anything else on netflix, but there are a lot of dramas available for free and legally through DramaFever.

Other Park Shi Hoo dramas include The Princess’ Man, which is a historical drama. I loved it, but I cried my eyes out. Queen of Reversals is cute too, but it’s 30+ episodes long.

Can You Hear My Heart is really good. The girl is actually really smart, which is a rarity in Korean Dramas.

If you’re looking for pure romantic comedy, You’re Beautiful is a lot of fun and used to be on Netflix and may come back some day.

I like my dramas with a bit of melo. Do you have any lakorn recommendations? I tend to like pregnancy, arranged marriages, time leaps, and amnesia as plot devices. So far I’ve seen Roy Marn 2011 and Game Rai Game Rak. I started Neung Nai Sueng, but I’m still on the fence about it.

Awesome, thanks for the recs! My list of K-drama is growing as we speak. I’m going to be taking it slowly though since a few interesting lakorns will be airing soon.
As for lakorn rec’ing, I’m glad to hear you like melo, because otherwise you wouldn’t be able to stand lakorns =) First on my list would be Jam Loey Rak (kidnapping involved!) a lakorn which brought “Ateam” to the hearts of many fans. You can find this eng-subbed on Wishboniko’s channel on YT. A genuine rom-com that I like is “Sood Sanaeha.” I would start with those two to see whether you love it or hate and can go from there. Drama rec’ing is so hard since we have such different tastes. I hope you’ll enjoy JLR and SS!

Fia, your writing is just so gud, one only not gud thing abt this is, some might be a little disapointed to watch the drama after reading your note, hahahha, even I liked the drama, I like your writing more hahahha

You are so sweet! Thank you and glad to hear you enjoyed reading this. What’s on your drama radar? Any other lakorns you want me to review? I have some time until my new project starts (TNNKK..) so I can indulge in another lakorn =)

I loved loved loved x a million, and it made me cry like a biotch, good lord did it make me cry. Just looking at the title it would’t seem like such a tearjerker, but man was the twist just hard to take. I watched this show because of Kim So Yeon because Iris left me a bitter fan girl for her (ALONG WITH OTHER REASONS). Park shi hoo seems to play the ominous/man crying/man-pain characters to a tee. His character in this show reminds me of Joo Ji Hoon in the movie ‘The Devil’ (tore me up that one did…gah did it almost kill me).
I am like you with Lakorns needing to grow. I started watching Lakorns through kdrama, Cdrama, and twidrama though so I think that it is coming along. I catch myself wanting to add to both so neither is perfect, but astronomically better than they use to be.
Oh and hehe Park shi hoo is also really good at kissing, getting naked, and being over all walking sex in his shows, I want one. He just does it for me (just like again Ji Hoon just his kiss in the show Goong is enough to make him perfect).
I am going to have to watch vids of them all night now 😉 Good write up and I agree with all of it.

Thanks Craxycat! So far my run with K-drama is going well, haven’t seen any bad ones yet. But then again I’ve only seen two =) Lucked out with both attempts! Park Shi Hoo is such a compelling actor, he certainly stole the show. Can’t wait to watch more of his drama..

Oh Fia you can’t go wrong with him…although I haven’t watched a lot of his stuff (Princess’ man was to long and drawn out, but his cuts were sohot). I catch myself wanting Lakorns to use his method of hotness to kiss etc., but I know that is wishful thinking. I could go over my Kdrama obsessions, but IDK if you would like what I like. Good luck, I would love to hear about the ones you’ve watched/liked.

I just got stuck watching Ubut rak kham kob myself, and by watch I mean FF through all the BS just to see the pretty boys. lol I probably just read a summery if I can find one. I cannot be responsible for my fickle drama obsessions.

I’ve only seen two K-dramas: PP and Beautiful Days. I will add ‘I Need Romance” to my list. Thanks for the rec =) I may have to steer my focus back to lakorns now because lots of new ones are going to air soon! I know, I don’t watch a lot of dramas at one time, takes too much focus. I prefer to pick one and dedicate my time until I’m done, then move on to another.

‘I need romance’ is a cable series which makes the series pass all the strict rules of normal TV series, It When you see real life comes to TV-screen, I love most of the charaters, we’ll see ourselves in them… I think you will love them too.
abt the review, I always want to read a review about Sawan Biang, even i prefer watching rom-com to conflict/tragedy series but to read, I love something like sawan Biang, but I couldnt file the novel in English ahahhaha, so if you write something abt it, It would be great for me. Thanks again.

fia, u r giving me a reason to go back to what i never finished lol just maybe i will watch it tonight when i have time. im not watching any lakorn atm although i still need to wrap up the not so good pang sanaeha. i am so mad, so many plot devices gone useless. the only good thing about it is the good chemistry between cheer and kan and cheer’s friendship with tle. haha oops ended up ranting about something unrelated to ur post.

Please do go back and finish =) I love this drama to pieces. Now you make me a bit wary about Parng Saneha! Today I shall make up my mind on what I’m going to watch until TNNKK airs… decisions decisions. Smile You sounds tempting! We’ll see =)

Ah… didn’t see you have the review of PP up already! The last few episodes got me sobbing my heart out at the computer screen and I’m glad Hye Ri and In Woo got their happy ending or I would’ve been so gutted.
I haven’t watched that many Kdramas in recent years so nothing to recommend on my end. In case you feel like giving Japanese/HK/Singapore dramas a shot I can list some. :p

I love going back and forth between our blogs. It brings back memories of the ‘old days’ (even though ‘old’ was just last december =) it feels so long ago!)
If you had to recommend one drama between J/HK/Sing dramas, what would you recommend? I guess I’m trying to ask what is your all time fave drama?

lol, it does feel like a rather long time ago!
Pick a fav? What a tough job! I couldn’t narrow it down to one drama only so I’m throwing out a few suggestions on what I think you would like

JDramas: They don’t write love stories like they used to but in the 90s Jdramas had lots of fantastic ones.
1) Say You Love Me. A bittersweet love story between a deaf painter and young aspiring stage actress. http://www.drama.net/aishiteru-to-itte-kure-episode-1/part1/
2) Love Story, starring Toyokawa Etsushi and Nakayama Miho. I can’t find any streaming links online tho. D:
3) Long Vacation. This must be Kimura Takuya’s most famous drama.

HK:
War and Beauty, Rosy Business. Both are period dramas that involves plotting and battle of wits between the various characters. Not sure if it’s your cup of tea but you can check out their synopsis online.

Thanks so much for the recs, J! I don’t think I will have a low drama census for awhile =) I will slowly pursue the ones with the links first.. since it is important that I understand what they’re saying. My list is insane now! Not that I’m complaining..
I find it so interesting watching dramas in another language, and I’m getting really good at reading the subtitles, lol. I can understand how important it is to get “good” subtitles now.. because it can get distracting when it is done, how do I say it, in a non engaging way?

Just finished this kd over the weekend. Loved it. New PSH fan next to Song Seung Heon (My Princess). Synopsis is spot on – wished though that female protagonist had her usual long hair, but understand she had to be in character. As her maturity progressed, her fashion did change, as did her hair style, but I wished they made her a bit more sophisticate toward the end. Anyways, I’ll be revisiting each episode all week, especially 13 and 14!

Thank you for leaving a comment 🙂 I actually really like her style at the end, she’s conscientious of her hard working money and much more humble with her spending. Prosecutors can’t afford brandnames- but still realistic in that it stays true to her desire- she spazzes over things she could not afford (so her taste in fashion is the same) but prefers to save up enough money to at least buy it once a year. Her life in the beginning of the drama is completely different from the ending, which makes for a great story 🙂 otherwise if she reverts back to her reckless character in the beginning, we wouldn’t have learned so much, right? And absolutely, Ep 13 and 14 is worth the rewatching!

I love this drama. it sits in my hard drive for a year before i decide to give it a go, and it’s one of the finest decision ever made.

there are many points why i love this drama;

* it includes a mystery effect that makes you wonder; the truth with what is happening? what
really happened before? how things will turn-up?
* the idea of pursuing justice more than the usual revenge plot.
* the symbolism of hye-ri’s shoes and feet.
* the mini cases and her environment at work.

and also, a lot of heartfelt and cheer-on scenes;

* piggy back time with in-woo’s wounded foot, hye-ri on his back – awake and not drunk not
injured and not swooning over the gesture.

* hye-ri telling jung-sun that she’s dense for not sensing that she likes the se-joon and the
later replied that she’s more dense for not sensing that she likes him too. LOL

* hye-ri reading a celebrity case and left it in the comfort room. haha

* Hye-ri heard the hidden message in the alarm clock. Their second kiss.

and many more…

overall, this drama allows you to think and feel while watching. it feels like you are growing too along with the lead, hye-ri.

Search

Categories

Categories

No part of this blog’s contents may be copied and pasted (including copied and pasted on your blog, website, facebook, forums etc.) All contents are written by Lovefia. You are welcome to link to the post/pages but please do not steal.